Weekend Projects

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sloppy dice, drinks twice
Member Since: Aug 05, 2003

So, what's everyone working on this weekend?

Me, not too much... I have an infected hangnail on my fret hand that's throbbing like an SOB... can't play guitar or drums. Maybe I'll lay down some vocal tracks for a work in progress, "Brittle".

I'm bummed, I have this new instrumental thing I'm working on, working title is "The Train Song", with a mellow acoustic guitar and a really fast drum bit - can't work on it unless the damn hangnail thing stops throbbing. I may have to resign myself to playing Tron 2.0 instead...

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a.k.a. Porp & Mr. Muffins
Member
Since: Oct 09, 2002

Feb 06, 2004 01:12 pm

I may be recording something by myself... Start my "solo project" so to speak :) It will have to be something punk since I can only play powerchords as far as guitar goes, though! Then again my brother may have plans for me... You never know when he'll want to record something. Or maybe the guys I'm recording for money will call up and be ready to lay down some tracks. One never knows, I guess. I may have to spend all my time doing work, but next week I have off, which is going to be sweet.

Chief Cook and Bottle Washer
Member
Since: May 10, 2002

Feb 06, 2004 08:17 pm

Mixing down a session from this past Wednesday with the big band. Twenty two tracks to wade through. A dozen songs or so.

Member
Since: Jul 02, 2003

Feb 07, 2004 12:23 pm

Well I'm just twiddling thumbs all weekend. Our house is being fumigated (termites), so I'm house sitting my mom's house while they are out of town, stuck on dialup, no guitar, don't even have HBO, it's gonna be a long weekend. <G>

Dan

a.k.a. Porp & Mr. Muffins
Member
Since: Oct 09, 2002

Feb 07, 2004 02:43 pm

Well, it turns out I'm doing nothing!

Administrator
Since: Apr 03, 2002

Feb 07, 2004 02:46 pm

Working on the second of three websites I am currently contracted to do. Still have one mastering job half-done and need to talk to a prospective cleint about another coding job.

I need a vacation.

Freeleance Producer/Engineer/Gtr
Member
Since: Aug 11, 2002

Feb 07, 2004 05:27 pm

tuning my rooms... see thread "tuning room..." here : www.homerecordingconnecti...=3555&frm=1

...bringing sexy back
Member
Since: Jul 01, 2002

Feb 08, 2004 08:53 am

i worked yesterday, but im off today and monday, so ive got a weekend of sorts.

dunno what im doing really, although i need to think about march's bonus tune for the website...

I am not a crook's head
Member
Since: Mar 14, 2003

Feb 08, 2004 10:51 am

I spent hours yesterday changing strings on my Les Paul, adjusting the action, truss rod, intonation and all...so this morning when the wife went to church, I cranked my amp up to 7 (which, on an 80-watt tube amp, is waking-the-dead loud) and jammed on old Ozzy/Randy Rhoads songs all morning :) God, I love that guitar.

I really need to get back in the studio soon...I stil haven't really even used my ART Tube MP preamp since I got it for christmas! But there are chores to do around the house today...maybe the studio time will come to me next weekend.

...bringing sexy back
Member
Since: Jul 01, 2002

Feb 08, 2004 10:55 am

do the chores next weekend!

sloppy dice, drinks twice
Member
Since: Aug 05, 2003

Feb 09, 2004 11:29 am

Well, I managed to lay down a drum track this weekend after all... and finish Tron 2.0... and lay down a vocal... and had my finger swell up like it got stung by a bee.
I came to the realization that I really hate the song I've been poking at for a month and a half, "Brittle". Like the lyrics, like the idea, hate the song, it's so frickin slow and boring I just want to fall asleep. I think I may give it a total overhaul and take another stab at it later, since I really do like the progression and the ending, but hate how slow and radio-song-ish it sounds.
But on the other hand, this ditty I've had running around my head for 10 years now (seriously) has turned into an actual, honest-to-goodness song. It never even had a name before... then my wife hears it on the computer, and says "you know, I hear that and I think of trains" and baddaBINGbaddaBOOM, it's now called "Train Song." So I've got this guitar and drum thing going on, that's faster than anything I've ever written, and I spent an hour laying down the drums with this... throbbing growth on my finger - ouch. I'm so ecstatic about this new tune... Hell, it's faster than Viva Las Vegas. :) Can't wait to add the bass track to it... I'm pretty sure it'll end up as guitar-bass-drum + train sound effect.
So, that's my weekend in a nutshell, not including the hours of rolling around on the floor with the rugrat. Not bad, not bad at all.

Cone Poker
Member
Since: Apr 07, 2002

Feb 09, 2004 07:00 pm

Was going to work on some samples and stuff for a project I'm doing, but I got sick over the weekend so I'm going to be laying on my couch eating soup until I feel up to moving

Czar of Midi
Administrator
Since: Apr 04, 2002

Feb 11, 2004 06:07 pm

I know Im late, but I slept in the snow this weekend. 40 below windchill as well.

Contributor
Since: Sep 09, 2002

Feb 11, 2004 08:04 pm

did you go hiking noize?? cause you don't strike me as the type to pass out drunk!

can't wait for the weather to get above freezing on a regualr basis so i can hit the trail :OD

sloppy dice, drinks twice
Member
Since: Aug 05, 2003

Feb 13, 2004 12:27 pm

Any ambitious projects planned for this weekend?
I may be able to finish up "Train Song"... can't wait to post it - don't you love it when you get all excited about a project? Then heading out to a nice French restaraunt Sunday night with mrs TCB.

I am not a crook's head
Member
Since: Mar 14, 2003

Feb 13, 2004 01:32 pm

Taking my amp to be serviced this weekend. After I get it back, I'm going to borrow a bass from a friend and experiment with recording it direct thru my new preamp. I'm also going to bring the amp into our living room (with a cathedral-style ceiling) and experiment with recording it in there instead of the rattling, small, standing-wave-inducing computer room :D

Hopefully in the next few weeks I'll get back to work in the studio...Flame's EP has inspired me to try to get an EP of my own together.

Frisco's Most Underrated
Member
Since: Jan 28, 2003

Feb 13, 2004 01:49 pm

hey, tadpui, what kind of pre-amp did you get?

me, I've spending all week and will continue spending this weekend plus all of next week probably trying to put together a superduper cool website for my band. I'm just learning php and MySQL so while it is taking a lot of effort, I can see the progress. Oh, and css too. I get all excited everytime I get something new to work. I wrote my first php yesterday. woohoo.

I am not a crook's head
Member
Since: Mar 14, 2003

Feb 13, 2004 01:55 pm

Nice coolo, that should be fun.

Oh, I got a relatively inexpensive pre, it's an ART tube MP. It should be better than the old Digitech effects processor for a preamp!

Frisco's Most Underrated
Member
Since: Jan 28, 2003

Feb 13, 2004 02:01 pm

yeah, that should be cool, the ART pre that is.

a.k.a. Porp & Mr. Muffins
Member
Since: Oct 09, 2002

Feb 13, 2004 08:04 pm

I'll be doing everything I planned on doing last weekend but never did... The ARTs are good from what I can tell. I've got a TPS and it does the job better than my old Behringer MX mixer pres, and certainly better than a Digitech effects processor, I would suspect!

Contributor
Since: Sep 09, 2002

Feb 14, 2004 01:16 am

two new tracks started within this last two weeks, almost finished up with those, so i might focus on that if i'm feeling up to it.

that's the funny thing abuot music, is that's it art and i can't say "i'm gonna do project X at time Y" cause it never works out that way. sometimes i'm feeling creative and sometimes i'm not

sloppy dice, drinks twice
Member
Since: Aug 05, 2003

Feb 14, 2004 06:13 am

Jamie, I know exactly what you mean. I'm a relatively new dad with a f/t job and an hour commute each way to work... my recording time is a lot more limited than I'd like. But sometimes - irritatingly often, in fact - I'll get an hour to myself, and I'll come upstairs, start switching cables around to record, get out the guitar, and just... sit there. If I'm really tired or in a bad mood, recording is the last thing I should be doing. I'll just end up with something I don't like later. I always set my alarm on the weekends so I can get up and record... I just hate it when I wake up and have no inspiration whatsoever... Not today, though... I'm feeling productive. Soon as my sleepy vision unblurs, I got me a track to lay down... :)

Member
Since: Jul 02, 2003

Feb 14, 2004 11:25 am

I've never been able to do much recording or music early in the morning, takes me till at least noon before I feel like picking up my guitar.

Since I have a 3 day weekend I *plan* on doing at least one song and hopefully 2. I also have a song I've had finished for almost a month but can't get a mix I like with it. I went so far as to upload it to SC with my first mix and pulled it down the very next day it was so bad. LOL Maybe I just need to just start over and redo it.

The other night I also put together a medley of 4 beatle tunes I did back in the 80's I thought about uploading being this was there 40th aniversary, but when I listened to it over the speakers it sounded yuk so I decided not too. Mixing has just not been going well for me lately. Sounded good in headphones though. <G>

Dan

sloppy dice, drinks twice
Member
Since: Aug 05, 2003

Feb 15, 2004 07:03 am

"I've never been able to do much recording or music early in the morning, takes me till at least noon before I feel like picking up my guitar."

Morning is a great time for me... In my old band, there was about a 6 month period where we practiced at 8am two weekday mornings per week (edit - actually, now that I think about it, I think it was 7-8am, then go to school by 8:30... yeah, that sounds right), then at 10am on Saturday. At first it sounded like a really weird idea... but it worked out especially well since we had a serious alcohol abuser in the band. Funny, he never felt like polishing off half a bottle of whiskey on our break that early in the morning... :) Well, you grow up in a small town, and when you try to form your high school band, your choice of musicians is limited.
Getting up early and creating something feels right to me... first thing in the morning, your head is clear and you haven't had a chance to have a bad day yet. Besides, my wife and son are on different schedules than me - if I get up at 5:30, that's about 3 hours of free time until the boy stirs. Then the midmorning nap - that's another hour. It's hard to force yourself out of bed at 5:30am on a weekend morning... but the early bird gets the worm, for me at least. :)

Czar of Midi
Administrator
Since: Apr 04, 2002

Feb 15, 2004 09:27 pm

Jamie, yes we were doing winter survival with the boys. It was a blast, and I will definately go again next year. Polar Tech Fleece rocks, I never noticed the sub-zero temps at all, in fact spent most of the day with my jacket open. the boyz built a little over half of an igloo and ended up tarping it to sleep in it that night. the others built simpler snow shelters and stayed in them.

But the answer to the other part is yes, I have um, shall we say, napped in a snow bank before as well. :-)

Contributor
Since: Sep 09, 2002

Feb 16, 2004 01:44 am

ugh, snow. sounds like you have fun, but it's not something i'd want to do. my brother and his friends just got back from Mt. Washington, Vermont. Highest point in the NE, something like 6200 ft above sea level i think. they were getting 60mph gusts at like -10 degrees F, that's like a windchill of around -50 !!! These guys are nuts! The didn't make it to the summit because of the weather. I told my bro (he was down do watch the Daytona 500 today) "let me know when you're going on a normal hike in NORMAL WEATHER". CAuse I'll be breaking out the backpack before too long here.

Well I dind't get much done music-wise this weekend. Maybe next

Czar of Midi
Administrator
Since: Apr 04, 2002

Feb 18, 2004 07:07 pm

Ya, Im really looking forward to camping this summer with both the boyz now instead of just Tuna. Although the big week long camp Tuna will miss as he will be at Philmont in New Mexico hiking up a mountian. But I did get good news as well today. We got a spot on a 10 day treck off the Keys called Sea Base. The scouts spend 10 days sailing a ship around the keys, and the adult leaders get to go along for the ride. And yes it is actually a sailing ship, and they have to crew the thing. Im just looking forwad to skin diving again as its been years.

Contributor
Since: Sep 09, 2002

Feb 18, 2004 10:46 pm

wow. sailing. that's nuts. all my older brothers growing up were in the scouts and went campeing and junk but i was the only one who didn't get into it. i was more content at home with my nose in the encyclopedia or programming the family's Commodore 64.

...bringing sexy back
Member
Since: Jul 01, 2002

Feb 19, 2004 07:19 am

i had a commodore 64 - it was great!

Czar of Midi
Administrator
Since: Apr 04, 2002

Feb 19, 2004 08:33 pm

I as well had one. Also an Atari 1034, my first sequancer computer that I ran the very first version of Cakewalk on. Had an Inteleision as well that hooked up to the TV and had a port to turn it into a bit of a computer, kidan like the commadore.

sloppy dice, drinks twice
Member
Since: Aug 05, 2003

Feb 19, 2004 09:01 pm

my next door neighboor had a c64, back when i was a kid. we used to play the hell out of loderunner. anybody remember that one?

...bringing sexy back
Member
Since: Jul 01, 2002

Feb 20, 2004 01:45 am

outrun was the best game on there, with the red ferrari, and camels walking in the road. class!

Contributor
Since: Sep 09, 2002

Feb 20, 2004 03:21 am

i had loderunner for the c64. :OD my favorites were zaxxon, questron, and ultimate wizard.

sloppy dice, drinks twice
Member
Since: Aug 05, 2003

Feb 20, 2004 05:42 am

I loved Zaxxon! That was a great game! That was one of the first ones done in 3/4 perspective, too.

Czar of Midi
Administrator
Since: Apr 04, 2002

Feb 20, 2004 06:55 pm

Zaxxon rools! I loved that game as well. I miss those old school games.

Member
Since: Jul 02, 2003

Feb 20, 2004 10:00 pm

Yep Zaxxon was my favorite Arcade and Coleco game. Donkey Kong, was a great one too.

Dan

Czar of Midi
Administrator
Since: Apr 04, 2002

Feb 20, 2004 10:17 pm

Donkey kong as well was a great game. The arcades used to be full of them and pac man.

sloppy dice, drinks twice
Member
Since: Aug 05, 2003

Feb 20, 2004 10:28 pm

I've still got an NES console that I pull out every now and then... :) they made some pretty cool games for that one. It's still a blast to play Super Contra.

...bringing sexy back
Member
Since: Jul 01, 2002

Feb 21, 2004 01:38 am

so, whats on anyones weekend project agenda this weekend?

im skiving off work today hopefully...

sloppy dice, drinks twice
Member
Since: Aug 05, 2003

Feb 21, 2004 01:41 am

I have no project at all... I need to write a song. That's my musical project goal. Other than that, I'll be doing a little work around the house. I don't have too much planned.

...bringing sexy back
Member
Since: Jul 01, 2002

Feb 21, 2004 01:46 am

im gonna do a little work on flamemusic.com, promotion and stuff like that, and avoid my boss...

Administrator
Since: Apr 03, 2002

Feb 21, 2004 06:00 am

Continuing my Philips beta testing, mastering a single song for a client and laying around letting my insides heal.

Oh probably arguing about where we are going on vacation. I wanna go to England or Paris. My wife doesn't wanna fly over an ocean during these more turbulient times.

Czar of Midi
Administrator
Since: Apr 04, 2002

Feb 21, 2004 11:43 am

Me, I gotta finish the vieo presentation for the scouts. and then finish one project of two tracks for a very young local fusion band. Then I am going to go nuts and install every free synth I have found and start writing a series of articles about each of them.

Oh ya, I also gotta go this morning and see my oldest sons new digs, and setup his buddies studio proper like as he is not having any luck doing it.

I am not a crook's head
Member
Since: Mar 14, 2003

Feb 23, 2004 09:00 am

w00t! I finally got a chance to get some studio time in this weekend. I spent like 10 hours cooped up in my little room. I turned a closet into an isolation room for my amp so that I could crank it and not raise the dead and had a great day of laying down tracks.

My goal was to get 2 songs tracked, but I think that I still have some work to do on them...things ended up being off-beat because my drum tracks (imported .wav files from fruityloops) are dragging behind for some reason. Ive only got my friend's bass for a week or two, so I'm determined to get several songs tracked before I have to give it back to her. Hopefully I"ll have some material to post here in the next couple of weeks. I'll probably just track everything and then mix everything once I'm done.

It feels good to be productive for a weekend. Well, relatively productive since my studio time eclipsed the time that I was going to use to change the oil in the truck, do some odd jobs around the house, etc... oh, well :)

Administrator
Since: Apr 03, 2002

Feb 23, 2004 09:04 am

Yeah, I actually caught a few minutes to spend in the studio to work on an instrumental that JSCOTT and GutterSlinger put guitar bits to a while back. It was kinda fun, I don't get time myself that often these days. Just got some gaps to fill and I should have two more songs ready to post...

...bringing sexy back
Member
Since: Jul 01, 2002

Feb 23, 2004 09:29 am

ahem, collab project bass line, hint hint, cough cough...

Administrator
Since: Apr 03, 2002

Feb 23, 2004 09:30 am

Maybe I'll do that when I get to the UK in a couple months :-)

yeah, I gotta do that. I had a few minutes over the weekend and I designated it "ME TIME" dammit, and I make no apologies for it :-P

I also worked out and did the treadmill too. I am now 8 lbs. from my target weight!

sloppy dice, drinks twice
Member
Since: Aug 05, 2003

Feb 23, 2004 09:33 am

I poked around with Tony's "Mines of the Mind" track for a bit, trying to lay down a hand drum track. I came up with something that I like, that works pretty well, but man, I am having some trouble with the way the percussion starts in that one. I'm not sure if I'm offbeat or if the timing is creative - wish I had a metronome track, but my metronome apparently won't match up to the beat in that one. After the drums come in, the rest of it sound pretty much ok with what I've got. It's a pretty cool song.

I did not write a song. I started to. I was listening to my old stuff, had just finished "Wiggle & Twitch", and got this "killer idea", and 10 minutes later it turned out to be me noodling around W&T adding accompaniment and trying to tell myself that it was a new song. Talk about painting yourself into a corner. So I gave it up and played a video game for a while instead. (working my way through "Alice" - it's a 1st p. shooter based very loosely on Alice in Wonderland... Wonderland's gone all twisted and demonic, and Alice has to save it. The cheshire cat has tattoos and body piercings - 'nuff said.)

I'm getting "ancy" with my music. I want to write something that has some f'ing balls to it. Light, feathery, airy, is not where I want to go right now. Train song came out pretty well, I thought, but I think I want to pump something out that's a lot less dreamy and fluttery and more driving and thumping. I mean, I used to be a in metal band, fer crissake. sigh....

...bringing sexy back
Member
Since: Jul 01, 2002

Feb 23, 2004 10:18 am

[quote] yeah, I gotta do that. I had a few minutes over the weekend and I designated it "ME TIME" dammit, and I make no apologies for it :-P
[/quote]

nah, fair play man...theres no rushing rock n roll...

I am not a crook's head
Member
Since: Mar 14, 2003

Feb 23, 2004 10:28 am

I know what you mean, TC. One of my projects from this weekend was definitely out of my normal genre. I loved the opportunity to double electric guitars and produce a driving section for a change.

Oh, and I enjoyed the demo of American McGee's Alice...great concept!

sloppy dice, drinks twice
Member
Since: Aug 05, 2003

Feb 23, 2004 10:46 am

"Oh, and I enjoyed the demo of American McGee's Alice...great concept!"

It's a good game... a few years old now, and I got my current copy from Wal-mart for $10 - and it came with Clive Barker's "Undying" video game bundled along with it. The weird environments are what really make the game... They are incredibly trippy. In the chess-world, for example, the sky is all alternating black/white squares. The black ones show stars on a clear night, the white ones show a cloudy day sky with the clouds rushing in the opposite direction from the way the squares are drifting. If you're going to blow $10 on a 2-pack of video games, I'd highly recommend this one.

Member
Since: Jul 02, 2003

Feb 23, 2004 01:49 pm

Well I spent my weekend helping my son finish up His newest song, on which I played the bass and 1 of the distorted guitar backings along with doing the mixing. So finally I had a somewhat productive weekend. :)

www.soundclick.com/bands/...tophermusic.htm

sloppy dice, drinks twice
Member
Since: Aug 05, 2003

Feb 23, 2004 02:00 pm

Is that the "If my guitar could talk" song?

I just heard that one... wow, your son plays a mean axe. Nice feel on that lead.

Member
Since: Jul 02, 2003

Feb 23, 2004 02:28 pm

Yep that's the one. :) We've got a brand new one I'm working on that He's going to play on, can't wait to finish it. I'll finally have some real lead work on one of my tunes. And this one *hopefully* ain't gonna have a "classic" sound anywhere to be found. LOL

Dan

sloppy dice, drinks twice
Member
Since: Aug 05, 2003

Feb 23, 2004 02:34 pm

well if you decide you want a hand drum track, let me know ;)

Czar of Midi
Administrator
Since: Apr 04, 2002

Feb 23, 2004 06:00 pm

Indeed, he is splendid to listen too. Please pass that on. I have worked with many guitarists and few can accomplish that type of playing style. Is he using a Wahmmy pedal or really using his whammy bar that effectivly? Either way very nice. Cant wait to hear more.

Member
Since: Jul 02, 2003

Feb 23, 2004 08:03 pm

Tincan, hey you know I think some hand drums just might work really well in the beginning of the song and a couple other spots. When I have it more fleshed out and have some scratch tracks down I'll give ya a holler. :)

Noize: Thanks He'll be happy to hear that, I'll be sure to pass it along. :) He's using a Digitech GNX3 with the built in expression pedal and the whammy pedal preset somewhat tweaked.

I'm his Dad so I'm naturally biased but I can't believe how well He plays for only playing ~1 1/2 years, stopping for nearly 10 years and now playing again for only the last 6 months.

Dan

sloppy dice, drinks twice
Member
Since: Aug 05, 2003

Feb 23, 2004 08:51 pm

"He plays for only playing ~1 1/2 years, stopping for nearly 10 years and now playing again for only the last 6 months."

I'd definitely call that a gift. That was intelligent playing in that lead. I know guys who've shredded for decades that just sound like they're practicing scales at high speed.

Czar of Midi
Administrator
Since: Apr 04, 2002

Feb 23, 2004 08:55 pm

I have a buddy who is a graphics artist who play like that. He is on the level of Satriani and the like, but he chooses to be an artist instead. Now however he is the head of the graphics department for IB Systems so it isnt all bad.

And I agree with TCbug on the gift thing. You dont learn to play like that, you are born to play like that.

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